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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25223686">One with the Force</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf'>TabbyWolf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Bacta Tank, F/M, I am a forgetful bish though so please tell me if I forget to tag something, Near Death Experiences, Off-screen nudity, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Force, Truth Serum, discussion of unwanted nudity, mentions of euthaniasia, mild discussion of sexual topics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 01:57:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25223686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rex almost dies.</p>
<p>After that, everything changes</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>224</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">

        <li>
          Translation into Español available: 
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30524250">uno con la fuerza</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TcwRob/pseuds/TcwRob">TcwRob</a>
        </li>


    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Had this idea after reading something about people who almost died. There's gonna be a few more chapter but I intend to keep it short</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time froze as Rex felt the rocks crumble underneath him.</p>
<p>His stomach jumped as he felt himself fall.</p>
<p>He'd assume his life would flash in front of his eyes, but it didn't. He just saw the cliff disappear above him as he fell.</p>
<p>He was vaguely aware of the battle going on on the cliff above him. He heard Ahsoka scream over the sound of the clankers, but it didn't feel like it would matter. </p>
<p>
  <em>Nothing did.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He had seen this happen so often. One of his brothers would fall, but after some short panic everything would go back to normal.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His brothers would carry on without him, like they always did.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It's what they were made for. Even Ahsoka, who had been his best friend, would move on and get a new best friend.</em>
</p>
<p><em>They'd be fine, and he had done his duty</em> he thought as he hit the ground with a sickening crack.</p>
<p>There was no pain like he had expected, but he wasn't gone. He couldn't move, he just lay there on his back. He knew he had broken a lot of bones. He was probably bleeding too, but he was going into shock.</p>
<p>"Rex!" he heard Ahsoka scream as she jumped down the cliff he had just fallen off of. <em>Jedi can survive falls like that</em> he remembered.</p>
<p><em>You'll be fine without me, little one</em> he thought as he saw her come down to where he was dying. She was just an orange blur. <em>Everything was getting blurry.</em></p>
<p>"'Soka..." he got out as she came into his field of vision.</p>
<p><b>"WE NEED A MEDIC!!!"</b> she yelled.</p>
<p>"No, it's okay" he shushed her "It's okay"</p>
<p>"No..." Ahsoka said. She was starting to cry. <em>Kriff.</em></p>
<p>"This is what I was made for" he got out, before coughing. She just grabbed his hand. </p>
<p>One of his brothers came into his field of vision. <em>A medic</em> he assumed. <em>It didn't matter</em> </p>
<p>"I'm sorry," the medic said after looking Rex over "There is nothing we can do."</p>
<p><b><em>"NOOOO!!!!"</em></b> Ahsoka screamed. Rex was too weak to respond. He closed his eyes, for the last time.</p>
<p>Suddenly, it was like he was watching his own death as a bystander. Ahsoka was sitting on her knees, holding his hand. The General was standing a few feet away, shocked. Kix was checking him over, but he could tell the medic was losing hope.</p>
<p><em>It's okay</em> he wanted to tell his brother, but he no longer had control over his own body.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry Sir," Kix said "He won't make it. We'll have to... Make it easier for him" Kix said as he started digging through his medpack.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked.</p>
<p>"Field-Euthaniasia," Kix said, matter of factly. "It'll be easier for him to just let him go painlessly. If we don't, it will be a slow and painful death. I'll need your permission, General" </p>
<p><em>Yes, let me rest. I'm ready to go</em> he thought as he started to float away.</p>
<p>As he got further away from the physical world, he could see things he hadn’t seen before. </p>
<p>He could see, or feel, life and death. Decay, that feeds new life. He could feel the heat of the Geonosian sand, the warmth of an incubator tank, but also the coldness of the ocean and the grave he’d be put in soon.</p>
<p>He could feel peace, in himself and in the world around him. But he could also feel the violence of the war he was bred for. There was so much violence. War was all he’d ever known, but it felt unbalanced somehow. Like the fighting was wrong.</p>
<p>There was still a lot of energy flowing in all different directions. That same energy flowed through him. He was becoming part of it. </p>
<p>He could feel the Jedi, and his brothers. He had to go join them. </p>
<p><b>"NO!!!"</b> Ahsoka screamed "He can't... Master, please!"</p>
<p>"Ahsoka, I..." the General got out "I'm sorry, but it's for the best. I can already feel him fading."</p>
<p>Kix found the syringe and pulled back his blacks to expose his neck.</p>
<p>Ahsoka just started crying. Rex, despite his lack of physical form, reached out to her and tried to take away her sadness.</p>
<p>He felt his heart break. He couldn't go. He wasn't ready to let her go.</p>
<p>He opened his eyes, squeezed her hand and took a deep breath. His ribs hurt from the movement, but he felt alive.</p>
<p>"Get a medevac for me..." he got out "Please, let me live." </p>
<p>He passed out again, this time just into unconsciousness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ahsoka feels guilty about not catching Rex and helps Kix pull him out of the bacta tank</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some Ahsoka feeling guilty and Rex being taken out of his bacta tank<br/>(+ Ahsoka talking about cultural differences with Kix)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ahsoka looked at Rex's suspended form in the bacta tank. He'd been in there for a week.</p>
<p><em>He shouldn't be alive,</em> she thought <em>At least, not according to the medics.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>...Or common sense.</em>
</p>
<p>His injuries would have been fatal. He had broken his pelvis, a couple of vertebrae, multiple ribs and he had lost a lot of blood. She had found him with his own blood pooling around him, and according to Kix they had found severe internal bleeding too.</p>
<p>Kix had also checked his pulse just before administering the shot and he couldn't feel it. Rex had woken up just before Kix had wanted to pronounce him dead.</p>
<p>There was no way he should be alive, yet there he was. Floating in a tank full of bacta.</p>
<p>She put her hand on the warm glass, closed her eyes and focused on the soft beeps of the heart monitor.</p>
<p>"He could be taken out today, but the lift is broken" Kix said from behind her.</p>
<p>"He can?" Ahsoka asked as she turned to the medic.</p>
<p>"Yeah, his bones are mostly healed now. He'll be strong enough to get out of the tank, but he'll still need to be on bedrest for another two weeks. But as this point the bacta isn't gonna do much more and he'll need to start rebuilding his muscle"</p>
<p>"I see" Ahsoka said. She had noticed that Rex had looked skinnier than she anticipated, though she hadn't seen him shirtless before he fell off the cliff. Still, it made sense that feeding him through a tube wasn't the most efficient way to build up muscle.</p>
<p>"I know his body isn't ready, but we need to see if he'll wake up" Kix said "Let's hope that lift gets fixed soon"</p>
<p>"I'll do it" she said “I want to help”</p>
<p>"What?" Kix asked.</p>
<p>"He weighs like... 80 kilograms right?"</p>
<p>"Probably more like 70 now, I'm not sure" Kix said "But if you think you could lift him out, I'd appreciate the help"</p>
<p>"Yes. I need to know if he'll wake up" she said.</p>
<p>Kix walked over to the control panel and opened the top of the tank. "He looks fine on the charts, against all odds. I'll get the gurney."</p>
<p>"Thanks" she said as she looked at Rex again, reaching out to him with the force. She knew he wouldn't respond. Even if he had been force sensitive, he wouldn't have responded while unconscious. Still, she could check his force signature. He looked alive. Though not in great health, but that was to be expected after... <em>That incident..</em></p>
<p>She shuddered at the memory.</p>
<p>Kix came back with the gurney. She started lifting Rex from the tank carefully. He was indeed lighter than she had expected. She shuddered. Still, she kept her focus on him and put him down gently,</p>
<p>He looked skinny and sickly. The bruising on his back was mostly gone, and the wound on his shoulder from where he landed on a rock had healed for the most part. The lower half of his face was obscured by a breathing apparatus. <em>How did he eat with that?</em></p>
<p>Kix moved the life support machine out of it's slot at the bottom of the tank and attached it to the gurney and wheeled him into the main room of the medbay.</p>
<p>"We have to scan him before we can let him wake up." Kix told her as he put his brother into the scanner.</p>
<p>Ahsoka waited nervously as the image showed up on the screen. She couldn't tell much about it, but she saw the feeding tube and breathing tubes that were hidden under the mask.</p>
<p>"He looks surprisingly well, considering the circumstances." Kix mentioned "We can wake him up today"</p>
<p>Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the force!"</p>
<p>"Yeah, thank the force indeed," Kix said "I really hadn't expected him to make a recovery"</p>
<p>"I know," she said "You wouldn't have offered to euthanize him if you thought he could make it"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Kix said "I still don't know how he made it. The fact that he had to be in bacta for a full week is bad enough, and it won’t do much for his concussion. Can I ask you a favor, Commander?"</p>
<p>"What is it?" she asked.</p>
<p>"He'll need to be woken up every few hours. Can you do that? I know you are less diurnal than us and I always end up exhausted, and I don't want to risk making mistakes while working on my other patients."</p>
<p>"Of course" Ahsoka said. Togruta weren't naturally picky about when they slept like humans were, so she would be fine with waking up every two hours to talk to Rex and check how he was doing, and she could easily catch up on sleep during the day.</p>
<p>"Alright," Kix said "Thank you"</p>
<p>"No problem, I'd love to help him." she said as she gently stroked Rex's foot. It felt weird, not like a foot at all. His skin was slimy from the bacta, and she could see his toes had gone wrinkly. He had also lost a lot of body fat, and she could feel his muscle under the skin. It was all wrong, there should be a little bit of fat. It didn't feel healthy.</p>
<p>"I'll let the two of you stay in one of the two person rooms tonight. But let's take him out of his coma now" he said, as he started to roll Rex back out of the scanner.</p>
<p>She immediately looked away. She knew what was going to come next, and removing those tubes always freaked her out. Still, she heard the noise. <em>The noise was the worst.</em></p>
<p>After a few moments, Kix broke the silence. "I'm done with the tubes"</p>
<p>"Good," she said, looking at him again. Rex looked a lot better without the tubes. "What's next?"</p>
<p>"Uhm... we need to wash him. You know how nasty dried bacta gets" Kix told her "If you want to I can do it alone"</p>
<p>"No, I want to help" she insisted. <em>I have to do something to make up for not catching him when he fell,</em> she thought <em>He almost died because of me.</em></p>
<p>"Alright then" Kix said as he carted Rex to the washroom of the medbay. Once they were there, Kix grabbed a wet cloth and handed it to her. "You should do his face, I'll get started on the arms"</p>
<p>She washed the bacta off his face in silence. His cheeks were slightly sunken and there were red stripes where the mask had pressed into him. His hair was also a little longer than usual, with no roots. <em>It's a mutation then. Interesting.</em></p>
<p><em>I wonder if the other hair is also-</em> She shook her head to banish the thought. This wasn't the time to think about <em>that</em>.</p>
<p>Rex was still unresponsive. After she finished washing his face, she worked her way down his body. When she was finished with his stomach, she realized the logical next step.</p>
<p>"I'll do that if you're uncomfortable" Kix offered.</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's probably better. I don't want to invade his privacy" she said as she stepped away and turned away to let Kix do his thing.</p>
<p>"Privacy?" Kix asked "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>Ahsoka held herself back from giving the medic a confused look. "Well, I doubt he'd be okay with me seeing him like this" she said, unsure what the medic wasn't getting</p>
<p>"Yeah, he's not gonna like that you've seen him in such a weakened state. But taking off his underwear-" she heard the bacta soaked boxers splat into the laundry chute "-isn't gonna make a difference"</p>
<p>"It's still wrong" Ahsoka said <em>at least, unless I get his permission</em></p>
<p>"How so?" Kix asked "I thought nats were mostly uncomfortable with other people seeing them naked. At least, that's what I've been told. I still don't understand why if I'm honest"</p>
<p>"It's because other nats can be cruel about small imperfections, even if they aren't a big deal to most people. And it's simply inappropriate in most situations."</p>
<p>"What do you mean? I mean... I've not seen anything on you that anyone could make fun of"</p>
<p>"Thanks," Ahsoka got out. This conversation wasn't going where she wanted, but Kix was probably just being clinical about this. And he had seen her naked before, after she got wounded. "But I’ve had people tell me I'm too flat-chested and that I look too muscular."</p>
<p>"Odd" Kix said, not adding anything else because he probably noticed she was uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"So is he dressed again?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Almost," Kix said from behind her "Just have to put some new boxers on him. Why do you care so much about not seeing him though?"</p>
<p>"It takes trust to be comfortable with someone seeing you like that" Ahsoka said "And I'm not sure if he trusts me"</p>
<p>"I'm sure he does," Kix said "He's very fond of you"</p>
<p>"Still, I want him to tell me so himself if he is. And he can't now"</p>
<p>"That's very kind of you." Kix said "He's wearing underwear now. Could you help me get his black back on? It'll be much easier if you levitate him."</p>
<p>"Sure" she said, turning back around to help Kix.</p>
<p>Now that Rex was dry and the marks left by the suspension system and the mask were gone, he looked a lot better. She lifted him off the table, and Kix started putting on his blacks again.</p>
<p><em>He looks better with the blacks on,</em> she thought, even though she knew it was only because they hid how weak he looked after a whole week in bacta. Bacta tanks weren't supposed to be used that long.</p>
<p>"Thank you for helping me" Kix said as she lowered Rex back onto the gurney.</p>
<p>"Thank you for letting me help," she said "I needed to do this, to make up for not catching him"</p>
<p>"I think he'll understand that you just didn't see him fall in time" Kix said as he started wheeling Rex to the recovery ward.</p>
<p>"I still feel bad about it. I almost lost him" she said as she followed him.</p>
<p>"I know. But you'll have to get used to not being able to save everyone. I know I had to" Kix admitted as he rolled Rex into a smaller, dimly lit room with two cots.</p>
<p>"Yes, I know. But still" she said as she sat down on one of the cots. Kix put Rex on the other one.</p>
<p>"Right. I'm gonna have to check on my other patients. Keep the lights low, he's gonna be sensitive to light when he wakes up. If he's not awake within half an hour, comm me."</p>
<p>"I will. Thank you"</p>
<p>"Of course, sir" Kix said before saluting and closing the door behind him.</p>
<p>As soon as the medic was gone, Ahsoka slumped down against the wall. Rex was going to make it, but she still felt terrible. <em>I have to apologize to him as soon as he wakes up</em> she thought as she waited for him to move.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don’t worry. He’ll wake up in the next chapter  this was just getting long</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rex and Ahsoka talk about Rex's near death experience</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm on a roll. This fic isn't gonna be super long though so I hope I'll finish it soon</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rex's head was pounding, but he was alive.</p><p><em>Right?</em> </p><p>He tried to open his eyes and move, but suddenly his whole body hurt. Not like he was still injured, but his whole body felt sore and his throat was hurting. Even though he knew he was dry, he could still smell the bacta on him.</p><p><em>He'd been in a bacta tank then. That made sense.</em> he thought. <em>He had almost died after all. Almost.</em></p><p>He groaned and shut his eyes again as his head pounded. Everything was intense, and came into his brain way too loudly. He was probably still concussed.</p><p>"Rex?" he heard a familiar voice say. <em>Ahsoka!</em></p><p>"Ugh..." he replied. <em>Not how he should be addressing his superior officer, but his head was pounding and he was still so sore.</em></p><p>"How are you feeling?" she asked.</p><p><em>Terrible.</em> he thought.</p><p>He took a deep breath before speaking, even though it hurt.</p><p>"I'm... Alive" he said. </p><p>"Yeah..." she said "I'm so sorry"</p><p>"What for?" Rex asked. <em>She's the only reason I'm still here,</em> he realized. "I was almost gone" he said, more to himself than to her.</p><p>"I know," she said, her voice breaking. "It was my fault. I'm so sorry!"</p><p>Ahsoka let out a quiet sob, and he immediately snapped to attention. "Why would it be your fault?" he asked.</p><p>"I should've caught you" she got out.</p><p>"It wasn't your fault. I just stood too close to the cliff and put my weight on the wrong rock" he told her.</p><p>"I still should've caught you" she said.</p><p>"Ahsoka, these things happen. I'm a clone. I know you don't think of us as expendable, but things happen and-"</p><p>He was cut off by Ahsoka sliding into his bunk with him, wrapping her arms around him. He wasn't surprised by this, part of him had expected this. So he didn't protest, he just pulled her close.</p><p><em>She needed to feel that he was alive,</em> he knew. <em>He could practically feel the guilt oozing off her.</em></p><p>"I'm here, it's gonna be okay" he whispered into her montral. </p><p>"But Kix said you didn't have a pulse and I... I was so scared of losing you..." She hugged him tighter and he rested his head between her montrals. He knew it was against the regs, but it felt right and she relaxed in his arms. </p><p>"I know, but I came back" he told her "I couldn't leave you"</p><p>"Like you had a choice" she scoffed.</p><p>"I... I think I did?" he admitted.</p><p>"What do you mean?" she asked as she sat up to make eye contact with him. </p><p>"I uhm... Well, I think I was almost gone. It was weird, I was watching myself die, but it looked like it was happening to someone else" he told her "It felt like I was floating away" </p><p>She looked at him in horror, so he continued.</p><p>"It wasn't bad. I felt calm, peaceful and ready to go. I felt... something" he told her</p><p>"What did you feel?" she asked.</p><p>"Everything. It was like I could finally see the galaxy. It was all connected, by energy flowing through all of us..." </p><p>"The Force" she said breathlessly.</p><p>"The Force?" he asked, even though he knew it was true.</p><p>"Yeah. When you die, you become part of the cosmic force." She told him "I didn't know you could come back though" </p><p>Rex just nodded.</p><p>"How did you come back?" she asked.</p><p>"I... Don't know. I just saw how you reacted and I couldn't leave you." </p><p>He looked into her eyes, and he could feel the gratitude coming of her.</p><p>Before he could say something, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.</p><p>He froze, but it felt right. He carefully returned the kiss. </p><p>She tasted a little like caf, and her lips were soft. He moved his lips against hers slowly. As unexpected as this was, he felt calm. This was worth coming back for.</p><p>He awkwardly tried to put his tongue into it, unsure of how to do this. He had never kissed anyone before, and he didn't really know what to do. She followed his example and he allowed her tongue inside his mouth.</p><p>Then, she suddenly broke the kiss.</p><p>"I'm sorry" she said "I shouldn't have done that"</p><p>He knew that technically, he had to agree. He could be euthanized for kissing his superior officer, and that would've made his choice to come back kinda moot. But it had felt so right.</p><p>"I... I don't mind" he admitted.</p><p>"I know, but it's not the Jedi way" she said. "Attachments and all"</p><p>"I thought Jedi were supposed to love" Rex asked.</p><p>"Well, yes. But not like that. Attachments are forbidden. And for the last week, I've been way too distracted. I neglected my other men. Even though I like you, I can't risk their lives anymore"</p><p>"Wait, what happened to the men?" he asked, suddenly worried.</p><p>"Nothing too bad. I've just been too worried about you to do my job as their commander, but we went on leave as soon as you got wounded so it wasn't too bad. Still, this would've cost lives if we weren't on leave"</p><p>"Ahsoka... I..." <em>I love you</em> he wanted to say, but he didn't. He hadn't even considered her, <em>or anyone,</em> romantically. But something had changed. She started feeling like his second half. He swallowed. "Take your time to think about it" </p><p>"Thank you, Rex." she said. "And even if I can't be with you, we'll always be friends" </p><p>"I know." he said. "Thank you"</p><p>"Get some rest now" she said, stroking his hair as he laid back down. "I'll have to wake you every few hours to see how your concussion is doing"</p><p>He smiled at her before falling back asleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading. Also there's something going on here. Feel free to guess, I've hinted at it</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Rex makes a full recovery and they celebrate at 79's</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sorry it took a little longer. I have writers block on all my fics atm</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been weeks since Rex had woken up from his coma, and finally he was released from the medbay. Ahsoka was excited to celebrate his recovery with her men. The last few weeks had been slightly awkward, with both of them pretending like everything was normal between them.</p><p>Rex had been giving her plenty of space, but she could feel him getting nervous around her. She noticed every time he looked at her just a second too long, every time he held back the question of whether or not she made up her mind yet. He wasn't trying to rush her, but she still felt the pressure. He needed an answer, and soon. Not because he couldn't wait, but because she didn't want to keep him on edge like this.</p><p>But she still hadn't made up her mind.</p><p><em>Still, today it was time to celebrate at 79's, not to dwell on her feelings.</em> she thought. </p><p>She took a deep breath before entering the clone bar. She always felt a little out of place there. Her men liked it when she tagged along, but the other clones hated it. She could tell that they were nervous. most of the fun things at 79's were against the regs, so having a Jedi around made them feel like they could get in trouble if she saw them dance. </p><p><em>If only they had seen the Hardcase incident,</em> she thought to herself, remembering that time Hardcase had tried to grind on her while drunk and on a dare. She'd have been a little more upset if he had tried to push his codpiece to her butt, but he had done the opposite of that and had rubbed his butt plate on her in an imitation of an exotic dancer, which she had to admit had been kinda funny.</p><p>She spotted her men and walked over to them</p><p>"Commander!" Fives yelled as soon as he spotted her.</p><p>"Hi Fives" she said as she sat down next to Rex. </p><p>"I'm glad you're here" he said </p><p>"Of course, I wouldn't miss a chance to hang out with you guys" she said, smiling at her captain.</p><p>"I'm just glad I can still hang out with you guys" Rex said "I was almost gone"</p><p>"I know" she said quietly.</p><p>"But he lived, and we're here to celebrate that" Fives said, lifting his glass.</p><p>The rest of them joined him.</p>
<hr/><p>After A while Ahsoka tried to slip away quietly. As much as she liked hanging out with her men, this bar catered to humans with at least minor hearing damage, not Togruta. She had gone silent a few minutes beforehand and she made her move now that the clones were distracted.</p><p>When she got out of the bar, she took a deep breath, letting the cold evening air fill her lungs. It was raining just a little. It wasn't too bad, so her lack of a cloak didn't matter.</p><p>"Too loud?"</p><p>Ahsoka turned around to see Rex step outside after her.</p><p>"Yeah, don't worry about me. I just need to give my montrals a break" she said with a smile. "Besides, it's your party"</p><p>"I know, but I wanted to check up on you"</p><p>"Thank you," she said. But I'm fine. It's just me and the rain" </p><p>"I know, but I feel more at home here" he admitted as he stood next to her.</p><p><em>With me?</em> she thought, her heart racing at the thought.</p><p>"I- I meant with the rain and all" Rex lied "Be cause you know. I'm from Kamino. And it rains there, A lot." </p><p>She laughed at that. <em>All that training and he still can't lie.</em></p><p>Rex sighed. "I shouldn't have said that"</p><p><em>He really shouldn't have.</em> she realized <em>How did he know I was thinking that?</em></p><p>"I just had a feeling that uhm... never mind" he said.</p><p><em>Is he reading my mind?</em> she asked herself, but she know he wouldn't answer that if he could. <em>But how?</em></p><p>He just stood beside her, fidgeting a little. But even without the fidgeting, she could tell he was nervous from his force signature. He was so familiar to her she could read him like an open book.</p><p><em>Wait a minute...</em> </p><p>"Rex, I want to try something" she said.</p><p>"Alright, what is it?" Rex asked</p><p>She moved to grab her sash off her belt. It was the closest thing she had to a blindfold.</p><p>"Is it okay if I blindfold you?" she asked.</p><p>"Yes," Rex said without much thought. "I trust you"</p><p>"Good. Because this will need some trust" she said as she put the sash around his eyes, connecting the parts that usually went through the belt loops to the decorative holes on the edge.</p><p>"Can you see anything?" she asked.</p><p>"Not a thing" he said, smiling at her. It made her heart jump a little. </p><p>"Hold out your hand" she told him.</p><p>He did.</p><p>She unclipped her regular saber from her belt. <em>This weapon is your life</em> she heard Anakin say. <em>He had probably just been repeating something Obi-Wan had said, it was way too responsible to have been his own thoughts</em></p><p>She placed it in Rex's outstretched hand, fully aware of the symbolism here. she didn't mind. <em>It's the least I can do after I failed to protect his,</em> she thought as his fingers curled around the hilt.</p><p>She carefully moved his fingers to the button and stepped aside. She could feel him brimming with anticipation.</p><p>"You know what this is, right?" she asked</p><p>"Yeah," he said "Do you want me to turn it on? I think you're out of the way but I'm not sure"</p><p>"Yeah, I'm out of the way" she said "Go ahead"</p><p>He ignited the saber. She could feel him get excited that he as felt the heat from the blade and the sound of the rain immediately vaporizing as the droplets hit the blade. Maybe he could even feel the force flowing through the crystal. That's what she was testing for. </p><p>Rex carefully moved the blade around, familiarizing himself with the feel of the saber. She knew it'd feel uncanny to him at firsts. Lightsabers had no weight in the blade like the sticks he had learned to fight with did, but they gave of a lot of localized heat. The air around the blade reacted to the extreme heat by expanding, which gave the blade enough air resistance to produce noise if you swung it with enough speed. </p><p>"Do you wanna try some forms?" she asked </p><p>"Yeah. If that's okay with you. I should probably take this sash off " he said.</p><p>"No, I want to try something" she said as she grabbed her shoto.</p><p>Rex flinched at the noise, but quickly relaxed. "I want to see if you can use let the crystal guide you as well. It's how we Jedi block blasterbolts. I'll go slow and I won't hurt you, but try to block anyway"</p><p>"Alright" he said. She felt a little guilty about lying, since it would technically be the force flowing through the crystal that he'd feel, but she couldn't make him aware of her suspicions yet. That would just be weird. <em>No one had ever heard of something like that before.</em> </p><p>She lifted her saber and slowly swung at his shoulder, too slow to make a noise. Rex felt confused in the force for a moment, but then he moved the saber up to block.</p><p>The blades locked together and Rex wiggled them together. She let him, since she knew that this was also new for him.</p><p>When she pulled the blade back, he followed her like he missed the contact.</p><p>The next swing came from below and was a little faster, but still no where near her usual speed. The blade hummed softly before it connected with it's counterpart.</p><p>The one after that came from the side, and was also blocked.</p><p>She picked up speed, and Rex kept up easily, blocking her swings as they kept coming slightly faster, but never hard enough for her to lose control and actually hit him if he missed one. </p><p>He started using his feet as well, and they fell into a predictable rhythm. It was one of the katas that she had learned. Rex stepped backward at every repetition, and soon the heel of his boot hit the outer wall of 79's.</p><p>He couldn't make a step backwards and Ahsoka's saber ended up next to his neck, above his pauldron. Her other saber was at his side.</p><p>"I yield" he say, knowing that he had no where to go. </p><p>She turned off her saber and lowered it, but stepped closer to him. <em>He's cute pressed against the wall like that</em> she thought. She noticed he blushed a little at that. <em>I wish I could kiss him.</em></p><p>Rex brought up his free hand and gently put it on the side of her neck. He pulled her close. She could feel his breath now. He smelled a little like cider.</p><p><em>Yes...</em> she thought, and Rex pulled her in. His lips were soft and a little wet from the rain, and she could definitely taste cider on him. </p><p>She heard her saber get turned off and felt it get clipped back on her belt. The base of 79's loud music was still audible but it was all so far and distant.</p><p>She clipped her other saber onto her belt and kissed him with bit more passion. </p><p>He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead into hers. </p><p>"I love you," he said.</p><p>"I know," she said "I can feel it through the force"</p><p>"I wonder what that feels like" he said. </p><p>"You should be able to feel it too actually, I'm pretty sure you're force sensitive"</p><p>Rex chuckled. "Ahsoka, there's no way I could be. I wasn't born with it like you were."</p><p>"But you came so close to the force itself and went back based on your own choice. I think that might've turned you force sensitive, somehow"</p><p>Rex just stayed silent. She carefully moved her sash up so she could look him in his eyes. </p><p>"That..." he said carefully "makes sense somehow? It feels right"</p><p>"That's the force guiding you" she told him. </p><p>Rex nodded carefully. "The force is telling me something else too" he said.</p><p>"What is it?" she asked. </p><p>Rex kissed her again.</p><p>It felt so right.</p><p>Then, they were disturbed by the sound of a clattering trashcan. They looked up and saw a clone run off. They had been spotted.</p><p>"How screwed are we?" Rex asked her.</p><p><em>Rex probably wasn't familiar with force signatures yet,</em> she realized.</p><p>"That's Dogma" she said between gritted teeth.</p><p>"We're screwed" Rex said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that's the twist I hinted at in the last chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They can't catch Dogma in time and things go wrong</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey sorry for being a bit slow with the updates. Real life stuff is making me tired but it should really be a priority for obvious reasons</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rex hurried back into 79's with Ahsoka behind him.</p>
<p>"Jesse, who do you think Dogma would report to if he saw one of the troopers break the regs?" he asked.</p>
<p>"You, of course" Jesse said. "Why?"</p>
<p>"Uhm... I don't think he's going to report this to me. Who's the next option?"</p>
<p>"Commander Tano, obviously."</p>
<p>Rex groaned. "And if she's not an option either?"</p>
<p>Jesse shrugged. "What would he not be able to report to you or Commander Tano?"</p>
<p>"That's not important."</p>
<p>Then, Jesse smiled "I think I know what you did"</p>
<p>Rex frowned. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"You were fraternizing with a civilian outside" Jesse teased "Don't worry, we've all been there. Whoever Dogma reports this to won't care"</p>
<p>"You've all been there?" Ahsoka asked.</p>
<p>"Commander Tano?" Jesse asked "I didn't see you there"</p>
<p>"It's fine" she said. "And you won't get in trouble for what you said"</p>
<p>"I haven't-" Rex said, about to explain that he hadn't been making out with a civilian.</p>
<p>"That's not important right now. We should go after Dogma"</p>
<p>"Yeah, we should"</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Have you found him?" Rex asked as he reunited with her in the main hall of the barracks.</p>
<p>"No, have you?" she asked.</p>
<p>"I'd have him with me if I had" Rex said.</p>
<p>"He's probably reported us already anyway" Ahsoka sighed.</p>
<p>"He probably did" Rex said.</p>
<p>"Let's just hope I won't get scolded too bad. In the worst case scenario, I'll just tell my master I know about his "<em>friendship</em>" with Senator Amidala and that he has no right to judge us"</p>
<p>"Ah, <em>that friendship</em>." Rex said. "Yeah, I suppose that's a good point. Let's just be glad Dogma only saw the kiss. If he knew I was force sensitive we'd be in bigger trouble"</p>
<p>"How so?" she asked, turning her head slightly.</p>
<p>"Well, the Kaminoans consider it to be a defect and claimed the Jedi wouldn't want us to use <em>their</em> force. They tested all of us after we were taken out of our jars, and terminated the ones who's midichlorian counts were too high" </p>
<p>"<em>That's terrible...</em>" Ahsoka said in disbelief.</p>
<p>"I... Don't really know how the Jedi would feel about it. But you don't seem upset about it, so I'm cautiously optimistic"</p>
<p>"You won't get in trouble, I can promise that. The Force doesn't <em>belong</em> to the Jedi, or anyone, in the first place. And while you're too old to be trained as a Jedi, I'll still teach you what I can if you want to learn."</p>
<p>Rex visibly relaxed. "Thank you, Commander. I'll consider it"</p>
<p>"Ahsoka" she corrected. "And take your time. I'll see you tomorrow, after I talk this out with Skyguy"</p>
<p>"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow" he said, hesitating a little. She noticed it, and decided to act on what she could feel he wanted to do. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He kissed her back, until she broke the kiss and walked away. He looked at her as she left the barracks to go back to the Jedi temple. Something told him to follow her, but he ignored it. He should act like he normally would, and not raise any more suspicion. Going home with her would do exactly that, and he didn't want to go too fast with her either. Despite her being four years older than him, she was still a teenager and he was a... he didn't even know how to classify his age. But regardless, something like that should be talked about first and not be an impulse decision made that was just because they were in the same bed together.</p>
<p>After she left, he went back to the sleeping quarters. Tomorrow was going to be a difficult day and he needed his rest.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Ahsoka, are you okay?"</p>
<p>Ahsoka blinked. Her lights were on, and Anakin was kneeling next to her bed trying to wake her up.</p>
<p>"Anakin, what's wrong?" she asked.</p>
<p>"I found out what happened yesterday. I'm so sorry, I never thought he'd be that kind of guy. Don't worry, he's gone now. You'll never have to see him again."</p>
<p>She just sat up and stared at him dumbfounded and still not fully awake. "What are you talking about?"</p>
<p>"Dogma told us what Rex did. I'm so sorry I didn't see it coming. I could've prevented this if I had"</p>
<p>"Anakin, what are you talking about?" she asked.</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" he asked, looking confused.</p>
<p>"What did Dogma tell you?" she asked "Rex didn't do anything to hurt me."</p>
<p>"Dogma said he stole your lightsaber and forced you to kiss him"</p>
<p>"WHAT???" she exclaimed "I let him borrow it and I was the one who kissed him, and he liked it. Where the hell did Dogma get that idea?"</p>
<p>"Uhm... You'd have to ask him" Anakin said, "Though I'm glad it was a false alarm. I honestly didn't want to believe it"</p>
<p>Then he got a look of horror on his face. "We have to get Rex out of trouble!" </p>
<p>"What, where is he?" she asked, suddenly worried.</p>
<p>"Dogma alerted all of high command. Admiral Yularen dealt with it." Anakin said. Then, she could see an even worse realization dawn on his face. "Kriff, he probably sent Rex back to Kamino for reconditioning"</p>
<p>"He's send back for <em>WHAT???</em>" </p>
<p>"I didn't really think about it" Anakin admitted "I just wanted to get straight to you and make sure you were okay, and told Yularen to deal with Rex"</p>
<p>"We have to get him back. Can you check where he's going?" she asked.</p>
<p>Anakin checked his datapad. "Rex was just sent to Kamino a few minutes ago."</p>
<p>"Then he can't be far. We have to leave now!" she said, as she jumped out of bed and put on a Jedi robe over her pyjama's and ran to the hangar, followed by Anakin. </p>
<p>"I'm so sorry Ahsoka, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that and forget to think rationally"</p>
<p>"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Rex!" she yelled as she opened the door to the hangar and made for the Twilight.</p>
<p>She started pulling at the door violently until Anakin caught up to her and opened it for her and got in behind her.</p>
<p>"I'll skip the preflight check, we're only ten minutes behind them if we leave now" Anakin said as the engines roared to life and the Twilight pulled out of the hangar at high speed. Anakin sped into the atmosphere and jumped to hyperspace.</p>
<p>They sat together in tense silence.</p>
<p>"Ahsoka, I'm so sorry"</p>
<p>"Do we have time for this?" she snapped.</p>
<p>"Yes, it'll be a couple of hours until we drop out of hyperspace"</p>
<p>She sighed. "I just hope he'll be fine on the way there"</p>
<p>"He should be. There's no need to kill him on the way there. If they just wanted him dead he'd be executed straight away. They're transporting him there to see what went wrong first."</p>
<p><em>Or after,</em> she thought, fully aware that it was plausible they just wanted him to be as fresh as possible during the autopsy.</p>
<p>"I know," she said instead.</p>
<p>"I uhm..." her master said "Would you be able to tell me the whole story"</p>
<p>"Only if it won't get him in trouble"</p>
<p>"Of course not" he said "I just wanna know what happened"</p>
<p>"Rex had been acting... off since he almost died." she admitted. "When he came out of that coma, he told me he survived because he didn't want to leave me, and then I kissed him."</p>
<p>"Okay, and how did that go?" Anakin asked awkwardly. </p>
<p>"It went alright" she said, downplaying it to make it less awkward. Luckily, Anakin didn't push it. </p>
<p>"So... You two have been together since then?" he asked</p>
<p>"No, I still needed time to think about it and he had to recover"</p>
<p>"Okay, so when did you get together?"</p>
<p>"Yesterday," she said "When we were celebrating his recovery with the men"</p>
<p>"Okay, but that doesn't explain why he had your lightsaber"</p>
<p>"I uhm..." she said "Well, I wanted to see if he was force sensitive"</p>
<p>"And that involved your lightsaber?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah, if he was able to block with a blindfold on..."</p>
<p>Anakin stared at her angrily.</p>
<p>"I went slowly and wasn't trying to hit him" she argued.</p>
<p>"And?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, he's force sensitive. Which is gonna be another problem"</p>
<p>"How so?" Anakin asked.</p>
<p>"The Kaminoans think the Jedi won't allow clones to be force sensitive and they'll kill him if they find out"</p>
<p>"<em>WHAT?</em>" he asked. "Don't worry Ahsoka, we'll get him back"</p>
<p>"Let's hope so" she sighed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I genuinely don't know the next part so there's gonna be some time between chapters probably sorry T-T</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Anakin and Ahsoka try to bust Rex out of the cloning facility</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This will be the last chapter, but I'll write an epilogue too</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the Twilight dropped out of hyperspace above Tipoca City, Anakin wasted no time getting the ship down to the surface. He didn't even ask for a landing spot, he practically crashed on their doorstep.</p>
<p>Ahsoka ignored the screeching of the hull as it hit the plating of the landing pad, and jumped out before the ship had come to a halt.</p>
<p>She didn't even wait for Anakin to get out before running to the door, through the rain, her hand moving to her saber to slice through the glass of the door in front of her.</p>
<p>Luckily for the longnecks, the doors opened automatically before she could destroy them. She spotted the reception, and ran over.</p>
<p>"I need Rex back! Where is he?"</p>
<p>"Hello and welcome to Tipoca City, how may I help you?" she said, looking confused.</p>
<p>"I need Rex back," she said as Anakin caught up.</p>
<p>"Is that a clone? We'll need a number" the receptionist said, blinking a bit too slowly.</p>
<p>"Yes, his number is CT-7..." Anakin said, looking sheepishly to Ahsoka.</p>
<p>"CT-7567" Ahsoka growled.</p>
<p>"Right. I'll look up where he is currently located" she said, typing in his number way too slowly.</p>
<p>Ahsoka's eye twitched, but she waited patiently.</p><hr/>
<p>Rex blinked as the bright lights shone into his eyes. </p>
<p>"CT-7567, did you try to inappropriately touch your commanding officer last night?"</p>
<p>He wanted to say no, but he was still groggy from the anesthesia he had been under during transport. </p>
<p>"I... might have" he got out. Maybe he had been drugged with one of the experimental truth serums the Kaminoans were engineering. "I don't know," he added.</p>
<p>"Then why did CT-8689 report that you inappropriately touched Jedi Commander Tano?"</p>
<p>
  <em>...caught our Captain touching the Commander inappropriately...</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>...grabbed the lightsaber despite the fact that this is against regulation...</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>...didn't hear either of them say this inappropriate contact was consensual...</em>
</p>
<p>Rex mentally cursed Dogma. He had, most likely accidentally, made this sound much worse than what had actually happened. If he survived this, he'd have to talk to Dogma about not accidentally implying things like this in his reports again.</p>
<p>"I... I was doing..." he stammered. He wanted to say he didn't do anything, but he somehow couldn't properly form the thought he wanted to say. He was definitely drugged. "What I was asked to do," he got out.</p>
<p>"Commander Tano ordered you to do that?" he was asked.</p>
<p>"No," he said, to his despair, honestly.</p>
<p>"If this unit acted that way without being ordered to do so, it is defective" the longneck said, more to herself than to him, typing something into a data pad.</p>
<p>Rex was starting to get worried now. </p>
<p>"I'll be back shortly," she told him, and she walked out of sight. Before she closed the door, he could hear her talk to her superiors over the comm.</p>
<p>
  <em>"Requesting euthanasia for defective unit."</em>
</p>
<p>He had to leave as soon as possible.</p><hr/>
<p>"We found CT-7567," the receptionist said with a smile.</p>
<p>"Finally!" Anakin said.</p>
<p>"We need him back," Ahsoka said.</p>
<p>"Well, he's been scheduled for termination ASAP but we can give him back afterwards."</p>
<p>"WHAT???" Ahsoka screamed in disbelief.</p>
<p>"That won't do" Anakin hissed "We need him back alive," </p>
<p>"Where is he?" she asked </p>
<p>"In the Defective product wing of the hospital. But that's off limits to visitors. You'll have to wait until he's done with his treatment."</p>
<p>Ahsoka just ignited her saber and held it to the receptionist's long throat. "You will let me get to him."</p><hr/>
<p>The impending sense of doom Rex felt was clearer than anything the Kaminoans could say. They would euthanize him. Or kill him really, since euthanasia implies a prevention of further suffering, and his life had just started to become much better.</p>
<p>He decided to "trust in the force", like the Jedi always said. There was a way out, he knew. The control pad of the table he was restrained could release him. He stared at it. </p>
<p>Slowly, the button moved down a little. He focused. The button moved down all the way and clicked. A second later, the straps around him were released.</p>
<p>He fell out of the interrogation table, staggering a bit since his legs were stiff. </p>
<p>He had to leave immediately, but he knew he couldn't draw attention to himself. So he walked out slowly. This was Kamino. A single clone walking around the halls wouldn't be suspicious.</p>
<p>He left the room, walking through the hallway as casually as he could. Up ahead, he could feel a spike of anger through the force and the same burst of energy that he had felt last night when he held Ahsoka's saber. It was her. </p>
<p>He sped up involuntarily, drawn to her force signature like a mynock to a power source.</p>
<p>"What are you doing here?" an unfamiliar voice behind him demanded. Rex turned around and saw another Longneck, a male. </p>
<p>"I'm uhm... looking for my Commander" Rex said, since he was still drugged up.</p>
<p>"We don't have any Commanders in the defective unit wing. What's your number?"</p>
<p>"CT-7567" he said, even though he knew he shouldn't have.</p>
<p>"You've been marked for termination. Return to your room."</p>
<p>"No," he said stubbornly "I'm going to see my Commander." </p>
<p>The Kaminoan activated his commlink and Rex knew it was time to run.</p>
<p>He took off instantly, running off as fast as possible. </p>
<p>"Get him!" he heard the familiar voice of one of his brothers. The longnecks had sent the Kamino Guard after him.</p>
<p>He ran faster, hoping they wouldn't fire on him. He knew they might be ordered to do so, since he was already marked for termination.</p>
<p>He outran them easily, drawing on the force for extra speed. </p>
<p>Then, the blast door in front of him closed.</p>
<p>He stopped running. There was a button to open the door next to it, but he knew it was disabled. If only he could press the button on the other side...</p>
<p>He could, he realized.</p>
<p>He reached out with the force, and he found the button. He pressed it and the door opened, just as his brothers came around the last corner.</p>
<p>He was now out of the defective unit wing and inside the main hallway of the medical wing. The door at the end would lead to the reception area, where Ahsoka was. Where he would be safe.</p>
<p>Behind him, he could hear the Kamino Guard readying their weapons, and he recognized the sound of them being set to kill.</p>
<p>He turned around and pulled all of their blasters out of their hands, slamming them against the wall. While they ran after them, he threw several boxes of hospital supplies in front of them so he had a bit of a barricade between them and him. Then, he ran again. </p>
<p>He reached the door, using the force to open it and throwing more stuff at his brothers.</p><hr/>
<p>"I can't." The receptionist said. "Outsiders are not allowed inside the defective unit wing."</p>
<p>"You will let me in" she said, trying her best to mind trick the longneck and bringing her saber closer to the thin throat.</p>
<p>Just then, she heard the clattering of stuff being thrown around and a door opening.</p>
<p>She looked up, and saw Rex storming out of the medical wing straight towards her.</p>
<p>"Ahsoka!" he yelled "Get me out of here."</p>
<p>Ahsoka turned off her saber, said "Thank you" to the receptionist to taunt her and then started running back to the shuttle. "Follow me!" </p>
<p>Rex and Anakin followed her, and this time she didn't hold back. Rex could keep up with her force enhanced speed now. </p>
<p>The door closed but that didn't stop her, she pulled out her sabers again and sliced through the glass for real this time, shattering the door completely.</p>
<p>The rain was pouring down over them as they ran to the twilight, which was still open because Anakin hadn't closed the door in his hurry.</p>
<p>They made it inside, and Anakin made for the cockpit right away. Ahsoka closed the door while Rex caught his breath.</p>
<p>"Thank you, Commander," he said as the Twilight took off.</p>
<p>"You don't have to call me Commander anymore," she said as she grabbed the front of his blacks and pulled him in closer.</p>
<p>"Am I being-" he got out before she kissed him.</p>
<p>He broke the kiss. "Am I being discharged from the army?"</p>
<p>"I... I don't know," she admitted "Maybe, if we have to. But it'd be for your safety. We don't want you to be... You know."</p>
<p>"But where would I go?" he asked, "I've known no other life."</p>
<p>"We'll figure something out," she promised as she kissed him again as they both felt the signature jerk of the ship entering hyperspace.</p>
<p>"Alright we need to- Oh come on!" Anakin said as he walked into the cargo bay.</p>
<p>Ahsoka broke the kiss and smiled at Rex, before turning to her master.</p>
<p>"What is it?" she smirked.</p>
<p>"Can you not do that in front of me?" Anakin complained "I mean, I'm glad to have Rex back and I can see that you're happy together, but I don't want to see this."</p>
<p>"Sorry sir," Rex said "But I can't say no to her."</p>
<p>"You're going to have to learn to say no to her if you want this to be a healthy relationship" Anakin said.</p>
<p>"My apologies, sir. I meant that I don't want to say no. Honestly, this is the best feeling I ever felt. And we weren't planning to go all the way right now. At least, not while you're here."</p>
<p>Anakin just looked uncomfortable and stood there silently, unsure of how to process what Rex had just said.</p>
<p>Ahsoka just stood there as well, before awkwardly getting out "You probably shouldn't have said that."</p>
<p>"I know," he said "I'm sorry, General. I was drugged and now I can't keep my mouth shut."</p>
<p>"That's... okay then. Just don't do anything unless she's ready for it" Anakin said "And sorry for assuming otherwise. I suppose it was just poor phrasing from Dogma's report."</p>
<p>"I know sir. I didn't have any specific plans. But if she'd up for it, I wouldn't say no."</p>
<p>"I think I'll have to make sure you don't talk too much," Ahsoka said before kissing him again.</p>
<p>"That seems like a good idea" Rex said, before starting to kiss her back.</p>
<p>They could both feel that this would be alright eventually in the force. The paperwork would be hell to deal with, and the longnecks wouldn't be easy to deal with. But they'd figure something out together, like they always did.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you for reading :D let me know what you think (I really enjoy reading comments)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A while after Rex was rescued from Kamino, he still struggles with using the force and what it means to be a force sensitive clone. Ahsoka takes him to Ilum for a surprise</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this will probably be the last chapter. If I do come up with something to add I'll add it, but I'll consider it finished (at least for now)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rex shivered when he got out of the ship. They had taken a ship to a planet that he was unfamiliar with, Ilum. He had never heard about this planet in any GAR reports, but he vaguely remembered Ahsoka had been here on a solo mission for the Jedi Order before.</p><p>"Where are we going?" he asked, teeth clattering. He should've brought Cold Assault Gear, but Ahsoka had insisted that he should wear a fur coat. It was surprisingly warm, but it didn't cover his face. She was wearing a similar coat, though hers had extra space for her montrals.</p><p>"To the cave," she said.</p><p>"What cave? What are we doing here?" he asked, getting more confused. He could tell this planet was peaceful, and there was an unusual presence here. Like the ground was alive somehow.</p><p>"We're gonna get a crystal for you," she said.</p><p>"And do you know where this crystal is?"</p><p>"No," she said as they arrived at a large cave "But you do."</p><p>Rex looked at the cave. The opening to the cave was impressive to say the least. There were two statues of robed, humanoid Jedi knights on either side of the opening, and there were several pillars beside them and a few small pyramids on the floor. The door of the cave was tall and partially covered with ice, which seemed to be growing down from the top of the opening.</p><p>"It's in there." he stated.</p><p>"Yes, can you feel it?"</p><p>"No, I just used logic to conclude that we're going into the cave. Why else would you bring me to the entrance?"</p><p>"Fair," she laughed as she started walking down into the crater.</p><p>Rex rolled her eyes, but then he followed her.</p><p>"For real though, why do we need a crystal?"</p><p>"I don't need one, I already got mine. You need one though."</p><p>"For what?"</p><p>"Okay, I'll ruin the surprise. You're gonna get a lightsaber."</p><p>"A <em>what</em>?"</p><p>"A lightsaber." she said "Figured you could use one."</p><p>"I uhm... I... I'm flattered." he said, unsure how to feel about that "But I'm no Jedi."</p><p>"It might still come in handy. No offense, but that armour has some gaps and it doesn't even always work" she said as she playfully poked his chest, hitting the pink scar near his heart.</p><p>"And you think getting a lightsaber will be better?"</p><p>"Yes? I was fine walking around the battlefield in a tube top at fourteen."</p><p>"None of that was okay," Rex argued. "It was distracting."</p><p>"I was literally just a kid Rex, it's no big deal."</p><p>"That's not what I was implying," Rex argued as they reached the bottom of the crater "We were worried sick that you'd get hurt. And it's not just blasterbolts we were worried about. There was shrapnel, you could get hit by something, you could get burnt, there was gravel, there's battery acid, gravel mixed with battery acid, there was-"</p><p>She had grabbed the front of his fur coat and pulled him in for a kiss to shut him up. "You worry too much," she said as she broke the kiss.</p><p>"I just wanted to keep you safe."</p><p>"I know, and I appreciate that. I want to keep you safe too. That's why I wanted to help you make a lightsaber."</p><p>"Wait, I'm supposed to make it? I have no experience with building my own weapons, especially not lightsabers"</p><p>"Most ten year olds can do it," she said.</p><p> </p><p>Rex rolled his eyes at that. "So how does it work?"</p><p>"We go into the cave and the force will guide you to the crystal. After that I'll help you assemble it with Huyang, the Jedi's architect droid who I managed to borrow for this."</p><p>"Great," Rex said, trying to hide his newfound excitement "Well, let's go then."</p><hr/><p>"Have you found the crystal yet?" Ahsoka asked.</p><p>"No, and I'm getting cold." Rex said. They had been searching for almost an hour at this point, and he knew he had to go up but there was no way up. Just a big stone wall they had been walking around for at least twenty minutes, looking for a way up.</p><p>"I'm sorry" Ahsoka said "I really thought there'd be a crystal here for you."</p><p>"I mean, it makes sense. I'm not a Jedi."</p><p>"It doesn't matter" she said "At least, I thought it didn't. There've been reports of former Jedi still finding new crystals, so I assumed everyone who's force sensitive and wanted one could find one here."</p><p>"Well, I want one" Rex said "But I feel like it's above me but I can't get there."</p><p>"Where?" she asked, looking up.</p><p>"On that stalactite near the ceiling. We'll need to get up that wall."</p><p>"No, you need to get up there. I won't be able to see the crystal anyway."</p><p>"And I will?"</p><p>"You'll be able to see your crystal glowing inside the ice. I won't, since it's not my crystal."</p><p>"How am I supposed to get up there though?" He asked "I searched for a way up, and there was none."</p><p>"You could jump?"</p><p>Rex just glared at her. "No offense but what kind of Jedi banthashit is that?"</p><p>"It's easy." she said, as she easily jumped up on the wall, walked over the narrow ridge and tapped on the stalactite to show him it was in reach and then jumped off the wall again. She even did a flip like the show off she was.</p><p>"I'm not doing that," he said "I don't like heights."</p><p>"But it's the only way to get your crystal," she said. "You don't wanna give up now, do you?"</p><p>Rex sighed. "No, I don't want to. Fine."</p><p>He jumped, but didn't get much higher than usual.</p><p>"How does this work?" he asked.</p><p>"Remember how I taught you to throw things?" she said.</p><p>"Oh no... Please don't tell me it's..." he stammered "Not like that."</p><p>"Yeah, that's how it works. Sticking the landing is the same as normal, but you have to catch yourself with the force. You should be familiar with that."</p><p>Rex sighed, remembering that time on Geonosis. "Yes, I do."</p><p>"Yeah," she said "Do you think you can do it?"</p><p>Rex considered it for a moment. "I'll try."</p><p>He took a deep breath and focused himself. He could do this. He jumped, using the force to propel himself forward.</p><p>And he slammed into the wall, stumbling down.</p><p>As he rolled down the slope at the bottom, Ahsoka was already running towards him. "Are you okay?"</p><p>"Ugh... Yeah," he said "I just miss having my armour to protect me from this kind of thing of thing."</p><p>"But this protects you from the cold better" she said as she helped him up.</p><p>"Cold Assault Gear exists for a reason." he argued.</p><p>"But you look much cuter in this," she said, before leaning in and kissing his nose.</p><p>He sighed. "Alright. I'll try again."</p><p>He looked up to the ice wall, trying to estimate the distance a little better this time.</p><p>Then, he jumped. As soon as he reached the edge, he grabbed onto it and managed to swing herself up on the ledge.</p><p>"I did it," he said.</p><p>Ahsoka gave him a double thumbs up, and Rex started making his way to the stalactite over the edge. He reached the glowing crystal and managed to pull it out of the ice.</p><p>He slid down the ice, using the force to slow his fall.</p><p>"Here it is," he said, as he showed Ahsoka his crystal.</p><p>"Nice, I'm proud of you," she said.</p><p>"Why?" he asked, "I've seen you do much more impressive things."</p><p>"But I've been trained for years, you're just beginning now," she said "And you're doing great, trust me."</p><p>She wrapped his fingers around his crystal, and leaned in for a kiss. He returned the kiss.</p><p>"Let's go back to the ship," she said.</p><hr/><p>Rex groaned in frustration as the parts dropped to the floor again. He and Ahsoka had been sitting on the floor of the Twilight, trying to assemble his lightsaber.</p><p>"This is ridiculous!"</p><p>"You need to-"</p><p>"I need to <em>what?</em>" Rex interrupted her "If you're going to say something stupid like <em>focus</em> or <em>stay calm</em>, I'll have a krifffing aneurism right here!"</p><p>"At least you didn't make the crystal explode. ...Yet" the droid that had come with them said.</p><p>"I'll make you explode, you lousy clanker!" Rex said, as he lifted part of the hilt, ready to throw part of the hilt at the droid.</p><p>"Rex, calm down," Ahsoka said.</p><p>"Most Jedi can do this at the age of ten," the droid said, and Rex growled at him.</p><p>"Huyang, maybe it's better if you leave," Ahsoka said.</p><p>The architect droid left, grumbling something Rex was trying not to listen to.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he said "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. It's just so frustrating, because I know that droid is right. I should be better than this."</p><p>"Rex, that droid is used to Jedi who've been force sensitive from birth. You've been force sensitive for two months now." Ahsoka assured him.</p><p>"I know, but this is weapon assembly. I should be able to do it."</p><p>"It's really precise work, and this is a new kind of weapon." she said "It's okay to take some time."</p><p>"Alright" he said, trying to calm himself down a bit.</p><p>"I got an idea" she said and she left the room.</p><p>Rex sighed and looked at the pieces of his lightsaber. He didn't even understand how he had chosen them. He was just told to pick "Whatever parts felt right" and that irritated him. That's not how blasters worked, and it was a weird idea that lightsabers did work like that.</p><p>He was never even supposed to be here. He had looked up to the Jedi since he was old enough to understand. But now that he had the force as well, it somehow made him feel worse. Like he had gone from one of the most respected soldiers in the entire GAR to one of the worst Jedi ever.</p><p>He wasn't even a Jedi, he was a clone who had been in a freak accident and had become force sensitive somehow.</p><p>He was taken out of his thoughts when Ahsoka came back, holding his blasters.</p><p>"I got you something more familiar," she said.</p><p>"My blasters?" he asked "Why did you bring them?"</p><p>"So you can disassemble and assemble them without hands," she said "That way you can get some easier practice."</p><p>"Great, you're making it easier for me," he said as he grabbed his blaster with the force and started the familiar routine of disassembling his blaster.</p><p>"Well, we all need to learn somehow," she said.</p><p>Rex just scoffed as he took the last two pieces apart, so that all the parts were levitating.</p><p>"What's wrong?" she asked.</p><p>"I hate that you need to dumb this down for me," he admitted.</p><p>"Rex, I'm not dumbing it down for you. I'm just giving you something that would be easier for you. That doesn't mean it is easier."</p><p>"Yeah right. You could probably do this much faster."</p><p>"Disassembling that thing?" she asked, her voice thick with amusement. "No way, I can't even do that with my hands."</p><p>"Sure." he said, before realizing she was serious.</p><p>"Rex, you're great at this. I wasn't nearly as skilled as you when I started learning to use the force as an initiate."</p><p>"You were three when you joined the order," he said as he started reassembling his blaster with the force again "That's not comparable."</p><p>"Exactly," she said "It's not comparable. So stop comparing yourself to Jedi. You're not a Jedi. Unless you want to be one, that is."</p><p>Rex sighed, but he did consider it. It made sense, so he let it go. He finished assembling his blaster</p><p>"Okay, I'm ready to try again," he said.</p><p>"Good," Ahsoka said.</p><p>Rex looked at the scattered parts on the floor. He took a deep breath and lifted them up into the air. He pictured all the parts clicking together, and the pieces followed his mind's idea. The pieces all fit, and the saber clicked together. It felt right, so he grabbed the saber from the air and gave it a few shakes to listen for loose parts.</p><p>"I think it's done," he said.</p><p>"Do you feel like you can turn it on?" she asked.</p><p>"Yes," he said "It's done. I can feel it."</p><p>"Alright," Ahsoka said, and Rex turned on the saber. The blue blade sprung to life, buzzing in a way that already felt familiar.</p><p>Ahsoka just smiled at him. He turned the blade off again, clipped it to his armour like he saw Cody do with General Kenobi's saber and stepped closer.</p><p>"Thank you," he said, leaning in and cupping her face "For helping me."</p><p>"Of course," she said as she leaned in as well, before kissing him.</p><p>"Uhm, this is not an appropriate part of the gathering," Huyang said as he entered the room, presumably to check up on Rex's progress.</p><p>Rex just pushed the droid away with the force and deepened the kiss. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a Jedi yet, but he knew he wanted to stay with her wherever her path would take them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! Feedback is very appreciated :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this was the first time I'm writing angst for me. Feedback will be appreciated :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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